Angara pushes P15,000 pay for public school teachers

Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday that Congress should make a commitment to pass with urgency a measure that seeks a P15,000 monthly salary for more than 400,000 public school teachers.

"This should be a congressional commitment for Labor Day," he said.

Angara noted that the present P10,000 monthly pay of public school teachers is drastically reduced after tax and other deductions, and scores of teachers are forced to go to loan sharks to tide their families over till the next pay check.

"Teaching young Filipinos is a very tough and critical job and teachers should be given just compensation," he stressed, adding that any effort to modernize education should start with the teachers, its most vital component.

Several years ago, Angara was instrumental in pushing Malacañang into issuing an executive order (EO) that adjusted the pay of teachers to P10,000 a month.

At the same time, Angara said Malacañang should make a parallel move on Labor Day by issuing an EO that would upgrade the salaries of more than 500,000 national government employees.

Ten minority senators led by Angara have filed a joint resolution asking Malacañang to issue an EO on general salary adjustment for national government workers.

The other authors of the resolution are Senators Luisa Ejercito, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, Gregorio Honasan, Robert Jaworski, Panfilo Lacson, Blas Ople, Sergio Osmeña III, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Vicente Sotto III.

The resolution has specific salary increase proposals for each of the 35 salary grades for government workers, from the lowliest worker to the president.

It specifies that the lowest pay in government should no longer be P4,840 a month but P7,096. Those in Salary Grade 15 who are now receiving P12,667 should receive P18,572, and those in Salary Grade 30 with a monthly pay of P27,500 should get P35,179 a month.

The joint resolution asked Malacañang to make the salary adjustment effective July 1. A joint resolution, unlike an ordinary resolution which merely expresses the sentiments of a chamber, has the force and effect of a law once adopted by the House and the Senate. – Efren Danao